Derek Weisberg

Derek Weisberg is a sculptor from California who lives and works in New York City.  Weisberg works in ceramic and creates both emotive and gestural figures that connect with viewers through the applied illusion of vulnerability.  The additional application of life-like colors within each piece synchronizes with the effects of lives experience.

Inspired by ephemeral street art culture, Weisberg sculpts anonymous portraits with psychological affect that serve as metaphors to a series of reflections.  The artist’s current series titled Grieving Jars (2011-present) feature bust portraits of unknown individuals who portray either tearful, morose or downcast expressions that are set atop urn-like containers.  I Held A Wake For Today Again (2010) is a life-size group of five figures, dressed in every-day clothes while mourning a wrapped figure that is seen lying on the ground in front of them.  Some of Weisberg’s sculptures also bear tattoos and sweatshirt hoodies, situating them into the vernacular present.  Stares Into Infinity (2010) references the elegant Mannerist style of El Greco.

In 2008 Derek Weisberg received the Searchlight Artist Award.  Since graduating from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 2005, the artist has exhibited his work in numerous group shows.  In 2011 Weisberg had two solo shows in California:  Auroral Dreaming at the Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose and You Were Almost Extinct Again at the San Francisco University High Gallery.  The artist also had a solo show in 2010 at the John D. Macarthur Library of Florida Atlantic University titled You Were Almost Extinct Too.